News

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Sarah Cook has been appointed as Chief, IWK Department of Family Medicine – Maternal Newborn Care, a shared position with Dalhousie Department of Family Medicine (DFM), for a five-year term, pending final approval from the IWK Board of Directors.

Dr. Cook’s administrative responsibilities as Chief of Family Medicine – Maternal Newborn Care for the IWK, will begin November 1. She will later also take on the role of a clinical faculty member at the DFM Halifax Site, the newly opened Wije’winen Health Centre, and begin her involvement in teaching the Family Medicine undergraduate and postgraduate curricula. 
 
Dr. Sarah Cook is a family physician and experienced healthcare leader. Her roots are in Nova Scotia: she was born and raised in Truro and completed medical school at Dalhousie University in 2005. She then completed her family medicine residency in Ottawa. During her training, she specifically sought out experiences and preceptors that would prepare her for comprehensive family medicine, including rural and remote practice with a special interest in maternity care and women’s health, and working with Indigenous communities. The opportunity to live in Canada’s North, to work with and learn from Indigenous communities, and to practice full-scope family medicine inspired Dr. Cook to move to Yellowknife in 2008. She has lived there with her Nova Scotian husband and three children for the past 14 years.

In Yellowknife, Dr. Cook’s practice included community-based primary care (with both in-person and remote support to a remote indigenous community), GP oncology, reproductive health services and maternity care. She holds both the Canadian Certified Physician Executive and Certified Health Executive designations and serves as a Board Director for the College of Family Physicians of Canada and on the Advisory Board for Nutrition North Canada. She was the inaugural Territorial Medical Director of the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority from 2016 to 2020 and most recently, the clinical lead for Choosing Wisely and Medical Assistance in Dying in the NWT.

Though her family loved the North, home calls. Dr. Cook is thrilled to be returning to Nova Scotia to join the teams at the IWK and Dalhousie Department of Family Medicine, and to her roots and her extended family. 
 
She loves sailing, hiking, running, traveling and outdoor adventuring with her husband and three children (16, 13, and 10) and looks forward to re-exploring Halifax and Nova Scotia!

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Cook to her new role. 

We would also extend our joint heartfelt thanks to Dr. Lynn Bussey, who has successfully led the Department of Family Medicine – Maternal Newborn Care for the past four years.